By Nick Heath, 6 May 2009 12:01
NEWS
The Post Office, pharmacists and photography shops are in talks to scan photos and fingerprints for ID cards.
Under the plans customers will be able to use the high street outlets to scan their fingerprints and facial photographs that will be stored on microchips in the cards or biometric visas and the central National Identity Register database.
The Post Office, and trade bodies the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and Photo Marketing Association International (PMAI) supported the idea of providing enrolment booths in their members' stores, ahead of a meeting with Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to discuss the proposals.
Making high street stores responsible for enrolling people's details will help limit the cost of the scheme but security experts have raised concerns over how safe these details will be.
Figures released today also revealed that the projected cost of producing ID cards and biometric passports for UK citizens over the next 10 years is £4.9bn, up £175m on previous forecasts.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith believes that the overall National Identity Scheme could stimulate £6bn of business over the next 30 years.
Smith said in a statement: "While private companies will clearly benefit from the increased footfall from offering this service, their customers will benefit from being able to quickly provide their biometrics while they are out doing the shopping.
"With an identity card, people will be able to prove their identity quickly and conveniently while helping to protect themselves against identity fraud."
Alan Cook, managing director of the Post Office, said in a statement: "The Post Office branch network with its nationwide reach and its reputation for trust and integrity is ideally placed to play a key role in the roll out of the National Identity Service."
But Phil Booth, of anti-ID cards pressure group No2ID expressed disbelief that high street businesses would voluntarily sign up to provide a costly new service during the credit crunch.
He said: "What business is going to want to make the capital and staffing investment in setting up enrolment booths at the height of a recession.
"The other question that has to be asked of them is how secure is a booth in a camera shop really going to be."
Comments
There are 8 comments. Join the discussion
1. karen challinor
if I were going to get half of the fee I imagine I would be quite keen on the idea too
I just can't quite picture the queue's forming round the block at £30 for the card and another £30 for the post office to take the details
2. Guy Reynolds
If as the home Secretary says:
"With an identity card, people will be able to prove their identity quickly and conveniently while helping to protect themselves against identity fraud." then major question is what safegaurds are being put in place to ensure that there is no identity fraud when people bowl up to the local high street shop. What proofs of identity will be needed if everything else is so bad?
3. GALLEYSLAVE
Our Lords and Masters seem to be getting themselves into a bigger hole everyday.
Why not just put ID cards into cereal packets and have done with it.
4. Jeremy Wickins
I am clearly missing something here. The ID cards are meant to increase security, and yet the enrolment process is going to people who have absolutely no interest in its overall success? People are always the weak point in a security scheme, and people to whom a breach is an externality are such a weak link as to be worthless. I would not have thought it possible, but the credibility of the whole scheme has just dropped, and from a very low starting point!
How long before the first announcement that somone has managed to get multiple cards - not long, I suspect.
5. Terry C
Now that is truly scary . . . and totally unacceptable. I have always questioned the need for ID cards, the cost, and so on - but I had always assumed that, if it came to it, the data would always be accrued by civil servants and be seriously "eyes only" categorised. This makes a mockery of even the idea of cards for security purposes.
6. karen challinor
they know an election is coming within a year
they know it is unlikely that labour will win the election
they know that all the potential winners have promised to disband the scheme
they know there is massive public opposition and it is unlikely they will get much revenue from offering the service
and they still want to install the kit and set the service up ?
knowing the above arguments will blow any compensation claim for the schemes disbandment out of the water they still wish to proceed ?
I think there may be a story there for a good investigative journalist
7. Ask Jacky
Jacky's watertight security scheme for the UK - hand all your biometric data over to Boots the chemists.
8. John Dixon
How much of the £6bn stimulation is going to be in the sale and purchase of hacked ID cards, then? Or is it increased sales of Gummi Bears and components from Maplins to fool fingerprint scanners?